gpa advice

[tiffhol]

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Hello professionals!

I am in need of advice. I recently applied to pt school and did not get in. It shouldn't have been a suprise as my cumulative gpa is a mere 2.64.
Unfortunately my first few semesters of college didn't go well and I didn't finish strong enough to be accepted.
I got advisement from the school I applied to and they highly recommend I re take the full year of chem, physics, and I was missing the right gen bio class.
I definitely have my work cut out for me so here's my question...
Is it possible to take chem and physics (10 units) in the same semester and work about 37 hrs a week. I got a c the first time in both.
I need at least b's but clearly a's will be better.
I'm 26 yrs old and decided a few years after I graduated how badly I still want to be a pt.
Anyone have any advice for me? For those who got good grades in these classes, how much did you work ? If at all?
I appreciate your time and am hopeful its not too late in life to make this happen!

 

[NewTestament]

If you're really serious and want to be a PT, then make acceptance into PT school your primary objective. I highly recommend you work part time or no more than 30 hours a week. Chemistry and physics require a lot of time to master. You're overall GPA will disqualify you from every school. Make sure you can raise this to at least 2.8. Some schools will accept that and then look at your last 60 hours. However, many schools require a minimum of 3.0 and will not even consider your application if it's below that. It doesn't matter how badly you want to become a PT. Schools receive too many applications and have to maintain a cutoff.

Kevin

 

[tiffhol]

Thank you for the advice. I had been dancing with the idea of keeping a full time job but am realizing the work load will be too great. I am hoping to reapply at the end of next year.
I have noticed your replies on a few other threads, are you currently in a dpt program or applying as well? If you don't mind me asking of course!

 

[Impulse1578]

I am 28 and this is my first round of applications. It took me a couple years, but I took Bio 1&2, Chem 1&2, Physics 1&2, and A&P 1&2 all while working about 30-35 hours a week and I got A's in all the classes. Granted, they were at a Community College. If you want it bad enough, take your time and get the A's, even if it means taking one class at a time.

 

[AlexFLA]

I wonder why people think community college is so much easier? I have taken prereqs at both, I actually think the four year schools are easier bc there is more resources offered to help. Free tutoring, helpful graduate assistants ect. In CC I was on my own I felt... Of course this is just my experience

Good work on making A's on your reqs!

 

[tiffhol]

I am 28 and this is my first round of applications. It took me a couple years, but I took Bio 1&2, Chem 1&2, Physics 1&2, and A&P 1&2 all while working about 30-35 hours a week and I got A's in all the classes. Granted, they were at a Community College. If you want it bad enough, take your time and get the A's, even if it means taking one class at a time.

Thanks for the response impulse1578. How many did you take per semester? I will be re taking at a community college as well and definitely need the A. Could you give me some studying advice? You seem to have done it right. Good luck with your application!

 

[Impulse1578]

I wonder why people think community college is so much easier? I have taken prereqs at both, I actually think the four year schools are easier bc there is more resources offered to help. Free tutoring, helpful graduate assistants ect. In CC I was on my own I felt... Of course this is just my experience

Good work on making A's on your reqs!

I'm not trying to bash on Community Colleges, I attended one for two years before I went on to a 4 year university and then obviously went back to one for pre-reqs. I actually felt like the community colleges went out of their way to pass you and get you better grades, versus a 4 year university. That was just my experiences though, I know every community college/university is different.

Thanks for the response impulse1578. How many did you take per semester? I will be re taking at a community college as well and definitely need the A. Could you give me some studying advice? You seem to have done it right. Good luck with your application!

I started out my first semester taking just one class, I didn't want to overwhelm myself with work and school. The next semester I took 2 classes, one over the summer, and then 2 in each of the following two semesters. As far as studying goes, its just all about carving out time in your schedule a few times a week to get it done. Having time blocked out during the week just for studying is the best thing you can do. While the weekends are great to catch up on studying, you need a break from the week to relax at some point, so just trying to use as much of your free time during the week seemed to work well for me. If you try to work, attend classes, and then use all weekend to catch up on work you will burn yourself out very quickly if you don't have some scheduled down time.

 

[starrsgirl]

I have a few thoughts for you. I am also a non traditional student working against a very low undergrad GPA too. I had a 2.5 from undergrad. Do you know exactly how many classes you need to bring your cum up to a 3.0? I think it's important to know and put all those classes in there. Otherwise, what happens is you could have straight As in all the pre Reqs but still be disqualified from most schools based on cum GPA. And most schools don't look at your app...you would be filtered out first based on not meeting a min cum GPA. In my case, each CLASS I take a get an A in earns me .01 of a point on my cum. Yeah, insane.

On the work aspect, I dropped down to part time and held 20 hours and took 2 classes at a time. Although, I also have a family and kids so that pulled on my time too.